Human rights : are they truly universal or are they influenced by culture in their implementation and enforcement?

Abstract

This paper explores a fundamental principle of International law, which is the universality of human rights. The protection of human rights should be a foundational aspect of all societies. This research explains the notion of universality of human rights and why they should be a primary concern of all states. It then aims to determine whether human rights are actually accepted and applied in practice by states. The debate between the universality of human rights and the impact of culture upon such universality has been ongoing for decades. More recently, in the international sphere, there seems to be a newfound backlash against the idea of universal human rights, which results in their violation. This paper seeks to understand whether societal cultures are a cause for these violations, therefore hindering the implementation of international human rights treaties into national law. Various entities composing the international community work towards achieving universal implementation and enforcement of human rights. They aim to identify violations of human rights wherever they occur, therefore reports prepared by such entities will serve as useful tool for this paper, in order to assess whether culture impacts the universality of human rights. An important aspect which this paper explores is the manner in which the relationship between human rights and culture should be understood in order to further the universality of human rights.